Tag: Fat Loss

In my last post I talked about the world giving you 1 million rules to weight loss – and how you really only needed the first three:

Exercise

Food Logging

Never. Ever. Quitting.

Now that you know how important those first three rules are, and that really those are the only things a person losing weight should be focusing on when first trying to change their habits (as you get more experience at this, it gets easier so you can add more to your plate) I thought I would expand upon these rules – to help you really grasp each one more in depth. This will be, you guessed it, a three part series!

I want to go in reverse order – since learning to “Never. Ever. Quit” is my favorite rule to talk about – not to mention it might be the most important skill you will learn throughout your weight loss journey.

So without further delay (and hopefully a shorter post than last time): How to Never. Ever. Quit:

Success literally depends upon your failures

Think about it: no where in life does ANYONE succeed without first failing. And usually failing many, many times. The best example I can think of now is our oh-so-fun-to-talk-about President of the United States. He is a very successful business man. But what about the bankruptcies you might say?! Well – those are probably why he is so successful in the first place.

Donald Trump learned from his mistakes and absolute failures (and I’m not claiming to be an expert on him or on business, this is just an illustration) and turned them into undeniable success. This same concept can be applied to weight loss. Because no one learns from their success. After we do something right, or do something well, we don’t change that thing, right?

And who can blame you? Why would you fix something that isn’t broken? But when we fail, we change – we adapt, we get better, we improve. Sometimes we quit. Avoid that last part and you have just unlocked the secret to never failing ever ever ever again. How powerful is it when a person can’t fail? They would be invincible. They could do anything. That person, very easily, could be you.

There isn’t really any coaching that can make you into the person that takes their failures and turns them into your power. The only thing I can do is tell you that I can guarantee that if you get back on the horse, learn from your mistake, adapt, and get better, your body won’t even have time to realize you messed up. The only thing that knows you ate something bad is you, your guilt – your body remains clueless for a while (do it again and again and it starts to catch on, then body fat is added, but that takes a lot of time).

10g of protein, 20g of carbs and 10g of fat – let’s say you and your twin (pretend you have one) ate those macros. One of you ate a piece of cheesecake and the other ate a small piece of fish with a side of whole grain rice and some avocado (I don’t know why, just do me a favor and play along). One twin would most certainly be more full, because more than likely half of their plate would have been full and now all that food sits in their belly. But the other twin, the one who ate the cheesecake, they may not be full but guess what? And this is controversial to some I know:

Your bodies can’t tell the difference.

That almost isn’t a good thing…right? Because that means all your healthy eating is a waste. Well – no, that isn’t the case. There are reasons why the first plate full of fish and whole grains and healthy fats would be better – slower digestion, better sense of accomplishment etc. but for the sake of one meal, it doesn’t matter all that much.

This doesn’t mean that you can go about eating anything and everything you want. It will help if you eat nutrient dense food due to the fact that it will take up more room in your stomach and require more time to eat among other things which leads to the obvious conclusion that one twin will feel more full and have a higher chance of success.

But block all that out for one moment and just consider this: the cheesecake twin (I totally would rather be that one) shouldn’t feel all that bad. In fact, they shouldn’t feel bad at all! Their body doesn’t know the difference so their job at this point is to learn from their mistake (maybe next time they won’t go into the restaurant hungry, or they will ignore the desert menu next time – again, play along), do better next time, get back on the horse and watch as they are now invincible. Because if that person possesses the ability to eat cheesecake AND not give up – they have won this war on fat.

Sometimes being told how to get back on the horse isn’t enough. That is where a personal trainer comes in. When you have a person telling you this but tailored specifically for your situation, it can be a life saver. 4 Faith Fitness specializes in online personal training done through an easy to use app. Go to our website to find out more details and start your two week free trial – experience having a trainer in your pocket 7 days a week and make this the last time you try to lose weight. Never. Fail. Again.

So 4 Faith Fitness has launched a Podcast (well, almost) and a matching blog. The details might not be hammered out yet (the corny picture of the ocean down below is default – I don’t know though, I kinda like it) – stay tuned, the details will be sorted out soon enough. Now, enjoy the picture of this ocean and take a deep breath before you dive on in (pun most definitely intended):

The Staples of Weight Loss

If you are trying to lose weight there are 1 million rules the world tells you about:

Eat chicken breast – only the boneless, skinless variety

Avoid fats

Remove carbs

Remove sugar

Get enough protein

Workout X number of days

But not X number of days or you’ll overtrain

8 – 1 million. Don’t eat these 999,992 foods

In truth there are only a couple things that really matter. Sure, the other things might help you a little bit. But rule 1 – 3 is going to be 99% of your success while the other 999,995 aren’t going to count for much (if I did my math right, roughly 1%).

Rule 1 – Exercise

Exercise is the number one thing to focus on. No, not because it makes the most difference to your fat loss – in fact, it might make the least difference to actual body fat lost. No, it’s due of the vast number of benefits it can provide:

Stress reduction (which in turn, leads to the release of fatty acids, and eventually fat loss)

Feelings of positivity – the “I can do this” mentality which is essential to your goals

Increasing metabolism – burn calories WHILE you sleep – say whaaaat?!

Sparing lean tissue – because when a person says they want to lose weight, they actually mean they want to lose body fat (If you don’t believe me look up the physiques of marathon runners. And then look up the physique of Rhonda Rousey. See?)

A long variety of other benefits outside of the scope of this article

Rule 2 – Food Log

You can’t manage what isn’t tracked – or at least I think that’s how the saying goes. But it’s true. If you aren’t food logging (and this is an art form in itself, posts on this coming in the future for sure) then how will you know if the reason you aren’t losing weight is due to the fact that you accidentally are eating double the calories that you think you are?

Studies show time and time again that we, by default as humans, under estimate the portions and calories of our food. Food logging has been shown to be a trait of roughly 90% of people who have lost weight and kept it off for at least 2 years. THIS IS ESSENTIAL.

Rule 3 – Never. Ever. Quitting.

Know this right now: you are going to fail. You are going to fall. You are going to fail and fall. No one has ever found success or achieved greatness without failing and falling. Rejoice in your shortcomings because those are the opportunities God has presented for you to learn and grow!

I can write a whole blog on this one rule (in fact, I will) but for now just get this through your head: when you fail, if you tell yourself “screw it I’m not letting that get to me and I’m getting right back on my plan” you will succeed. It’s when a person gives up and quits that true failure occurs.

It’s when one bad meal leads to a missed workout which leads to 2 more bad meals and then leads to the “I’ll get back on track Monday” which leads to “I’ll get back on track on the 1st” and ends at “what have I been doing these last 3 years” and an extra 15-30 lbs.

Your body doesn’t have time to make fat from one bad night. Do you know how complicated the fat synthesizing process is? I won’t get into details but it isn’t a fast process by any means. It takes so much time that if you get back to your plan the next day (or even in the next week) your body won’t even change! The scale might say otherwise, but trust me, it’s water weight.

Sure you might not progress for a day or two, but that isn’t a big deal when you think about how far you can go with another 4-5 days in a row of crushing it! Put your foot on your fats throat and step down – it’s time to be heartless.

“If you want to achieve greatness stop asking for permission” – Anon

You got this.

Note: There are more “important” things than 3 of course, but worrying about too many things at once almost always leads to failure. Look at your past, how did it go last time you tried to overhaul your life? These 3 are the most important – everything else comes with time. So add patience to the list. Patience is number 4.

Sometimes learning and knowing what to do to lose weight isn’t enough. That is where a personal trainer comes in. 4 Faith Fitness specializes in online personal training done through an easy to use app. Go to our website to find out more details and start your two week free trial – experience having a trainer in your pocket, 7 days a week and make this the last time you try to lose weight.